504 COMMON HITTING FAULTS

Dropping The Back Shoulder:
Allowing the back shoulder to drop while in the swing sequence is a common error of young hitters. This causes your front shoulder and head to be carried upward with the momentum of the swing sequence, and your eyes to loose sight of the ball. When this happens, the swing becomes slightly upper cut and less powerful.
Correction:
In order to get the most bat speed and a level swing the batter must keep his back elbow up higher in the stance position. Keeping the front shoulder closed. These adjustments will help the batter keep his eyes on the ball.

Poor Hip Pivoting:
By failing to pivot with your hips correctly, causes the arms and upper body to generate all the bat speed. In the swing sequence the hips can help generate a lot of the power required.
Correction:
Make sure you are up on the balls of your back foot. This allows for a smooth start to the pivot. Keeping your lead foot closed as much as possible will also help generate the quick pivot movement. As you stride toward the pitcher your belly button should be directly in line with the pitcher, when the stride is complete.

Over Striding:
Over striding will directly effect the weight transfer from your back foot to your front foot. Resulting in poor balance and poor bat control. The back foot will often be dragged forward forcing the hitter to open up too soon.
Correction:
Restrict the stride to about a foot (12 inches) while concentrating on keeping your weight over your back foot. Widen your stance at the start will help cut back on your stride.

Ahead to 505?? Return To 500 Contents Page